It’s a mystery to many quilters: how do you make a scrap quilt that doesn’t turn into a muddled mess?

In her book Modern Heritage Quilts, Amy Ellis asks her superstar quilting friends to share what they think makes a great scrap quilt. Today we’re sharing some of their answers. If you’re drowning in scraps, longing to make a scrap quilt, or aren’t sure how to get started, read on!

“The scrap quilts that are memorable to me—whether they’re new or vintage, made by others or by me—are those that tell me a little bit about the maker. I love it when quilts have some sense of personality. They can be messy or organized, with a defined color palette or every color of the rainbow. I like quirky quilts with a crazy pastiche of colors, prints, textures, and so on. It isn’t always about how many fabrics they include but rather the attitude behind the selection.”

“Using as many scraps as possible and throwing in some ugly scraps. I tried making a scrappy Trip Around the World quilt a few months ago and hated it at first because it was too matchy. As soon as I purposely threw in some ‘uglies,’ I fell in love with the quilt. Now it sings!”

“I think a scrap quilt is successful when there are enough scraps used that they cause conversation and make the entire look of the quilt so darn interesting you just can’t stop looking at it! That is the sheer beauty of a scrap quilt—the randomness, the intrigue, the curiosities that go along with the finished quilt.”

“What makes a scrap quilt successful is value and contrast. Using fabrics with different values (light, medium, and dark) will make the design sing. You also want to think about contrast when using fabrics with similar values. Without enough contrast, the fabrics will blend together and the design will be lost.”

“An abundance of fabrics! When I started making quilts in the mid 1970s, a scrap quilt was not possible because there were so few patchwork-weight 100% cottons available. The first scrap quilt Liz Porter and I made was in the 1980s, and we were simply amazed when we counted 60 fabrics in it!

In a scrap quilt, any fabric can work, as long as it has ‘friends’ to lean on. With 60, 100, or 200 fabrics, the success of the quilt doesn’t depend on just one or two of your choices. The ‘wonder fabrics’ (those you bought and wonder why) lose themselves among the great fabrics.”

So the consensus is: MORE IS BETTER! But saving scraps can be a messy business (ask us how we know). Here’s Amy’s strategy for efficiently saving her fabric scraps as she’s making other quilts:

“A few of my favorite quilts are those I’ve made from my scrap bin. They contain bits of fabric from other projects I’ve created, and they always bring a smile to my face. When I’m cutting any quilt, I keep a container nearby for scraps. The extra bits after crosscutting my squares and rectangles, plus any leftovers after piecing, all go into the container. This can be a simple storage tote or a pretty jar. It all depends on your space and what works for you, but once it’s full, the sorting begins! At that point I sort by color.”

Amy’s “One at a Time” boxes in Modern Heritage Quilts allow you to make just one block at a time from your scrap bin, instead of cutting fabric for an entire quilt—such a smart way to get scrappy!

I let the pattern dictate how many colors to use and the placement of them. I am always cognizant of lights, mediums and darks. My favorite scrappy quilts, however, were made with patterns that use a LOT of fabrics. It amazes me how they can all blend together in the end.

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—Chris on January 27, 2017

Anything goes for me! The scrappier, the better. I do like to include good contrasting fabric though.

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—Colleen on January 27, 2017

C: everyone in the pool! I do like to pair the scrap blocks with a solid throughout the entire quilt. It really helps the scraps shine! Looking back across the crumbs of old projects is fun and thrifty!

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—Stephanie L. on January 27, 2017

I like to plan

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—Judy Clark on January 27, 2017

Anything goes for me. Contrast is my goal.

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—Peggy on January 27, 2017

I like to plan my scrap quilts! I think making a scrap quilt is therapy! I feel as if I have accomplished something and made good use of what I had bought. It, also, makes room for new fabric! Yeah!!

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—Lana Stewart on January 27, 2017

I like to plan mine. Last year and this year, I’ve been making scrap quilts for my nieces & nephew. They each pulled fabrics from my stash, and selected a pattern, and then it’s been up to me to turn their piles of choices into one cohesive quilt each. It’s been challenging, and fun!

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—Heather V on January 27, 2017

My scrap quilts are planned, with a few ringers thrown in to add sparkle. I have a plan to make a random, anything goes scrap quilt, but haven’t started it yet.

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—Linda Towers on January 27, 2017

Waste not! Want not! The old sayings are so true. It is wonderful to save all those scraps in a big box or bag…then root through them to make something new…exciting…and THRIFTY!

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—Sheila Haddad on January 27, 2017

Pretty much I just dig in and pull out! Anything goes!

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—Ginger Marshall on January 27, 2017

If I’m making a string quilt, I usually have a plan with a pattern in mind. However, if I made a true scrap quilt, Everything goes. I call these my Gumbo Quilts. They’re quite fun and all go to charity.

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—Nancy on January 27, 2017

I have yet to make a scrap quilt! I definitely have PLENTY of scraps to make several. Is there somewhere I can get some extra time???

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—Krafty KC on January 27, 2017

i do both plan the color or just grab. When I use color, I assign a color to each piece. So it gives me a little order. If my are really different I grab out of a a bag, I like a single background to highlight all the fabrics.

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—Marie Walton on January 27, 2017

C is me. Grab and go!

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—Barb H on January 27, 2017

I usually depend on others’ patterns that may use an overall color scheme or just anything goes!

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—Angelia Ulrich on January 27, 2017

Very scrappy. I do try to avoid putting terribly clashing fabrics next to each other.

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—Kathy on January 27, 2017

I plan my scrap quilts to the extent that I can’t abide two scraps of the same color sitting side by side.

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—Anne Werner on January 27, 2017

I put them all in a bag and then grab, as long as they aren’t the same fabric they get sewn together.

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—Susan on January 27, 2017

I take the word scrappy seriously. I’ve made one color quilts, but my favorite are the "close you eyes and pick" kind. There is a wonderful element of surprise in them and besides. I feel good using up all those lovely bits

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—Joan Brown on January 27, 2017

I’m an A. I plan and choose carefully according to value and color. It is hard for me to be random!

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—Carol B. on January 27, 2017

Anything goes…for years I have made scrappy quilts which have up to 120 different fabrics in them. Now it is very hard for me, actually nearly impossible, to make a quilt with just a few fabrics!

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—LynneP on January 27, 2017

For me, it is a, b, and c! And feel like I am always learning more when making a scrap quilt. In the quilt guild I attend, one of the members guided us through "crumb" quilts and was so fun. She provided all the crumbs in bags. I received a bag with not my style, however there was a theme fabric which I used for the center of the blocks. What fun!

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—Marilynn on January 27, 2017

I love scrap quilts – I think of them as much like a group of people. Parties are much more imspiriational when there is a good mix of different kinds of people (who are at least polite to one another:). Quilts are much more interesting when there are many different values, colors, print textures of fabric.

Personally, I make a nice pile of scraps that looks good to me and then go at it. I don’t plan ahead much because part of the pleasure of making the quilt is the fabric play that happens as you work.

🙂 Linda

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—linda schiffer on January 27, 2017

I plan my scrappy quilts usually using fabric from the same line, i.e. if it’s civil war themed then I use dark civil war with shirtings.

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—Frances Claassens on January 27, 2017

I tend to do planned scrap quilts; usually planned around color. I often use a single light so I have a strong contrast with my dark civil war scraps.

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—Maureen Klebe on January 27, 2017

I Struggle with just letting go, so I plan the fabrics I will use so I am definitely an A.

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—Kim Light on January 27, 2017

I throw in anything that lands on my cutting table. Thankfully, my guild has a "free" table and a lot of the folks don’t like to keep their scraps! They are more than welcome on my cutting table! Once in a while, I do a controlled scrappy, but most of the time I am a "anything goes" gal.

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—Bev Gunn on January 27, 2017

I have been making several colorful "happy" quilts. The scraps are riotous but all play well together. The scraps that are the uglies actually at more texture and contrast. I try to be very random. The resulting scrap quilts are my favorites so it is hard for me to let them go to other homes!

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—Rebecca P on January 27, 2017

Mostly, I do B. I tend to separate my colours into warm and cool, as in a string quilt, so that even blocks that are similar values stand out against each other. Having said that, I have a stack of 2.5 inch squares of juvenile fabric that I use like Bonnie Hunter’s Leaders and Enders, and I sew pairs that look good together, then 4 patches that look good, then some sort of sashing, and there’s an I Spy for the Paediatric ward. And still the scraps multiply in their bins!

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—Carol on January 27, 2017

Anything and everything goes! I make blocks, more than enough, and lay them out. With the extras I have flexibility to take our those I don’t like. Back into the scrap pile they go, or a table runner or pillow. Love scrappy quilts!

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—Paula on January 27, 2017

Depends on the project. I rarely make quilts with only a few fabrics; some of my larger projects have well over a thousand fabrics! (I have a short attention span, so doing the same thing with the same fabrics numbs my mind.). Usually I at least pay attention to placement of values, even in a string quilt. Sometimes I stick with a grayed palette, other times bright. A few of my scrap quilts have planned colour placement, with each colour being a broad range, Most often, anything goes – EXCEPT as I go, I balance the values, tone-on-tones, painterlies (like florals, paislies, etc.) and funky (like novelties, abstracts, geometrics); I am not fond of completely random. I want the eye to endlessly move around my quilts, finding new things to look at. My way of ‘scrap qulting’ needs a certain amount of organization. i have devised various ways to set up "work trays" so I can be "random" in an organized way. Works for me…

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—ChrisO on January 27, 2017

Who wants to plan? To me the freedom of a scrap quilt is the ability to trust that the colors will all find friends eventually; that is what makes it interesting.

Of course, having said that, in all of the chaos and splatter of color, you do need to have a solid color in the background to give your eyes a rest. I will use a solid like a muslin, for instance, to corral the splash of color to keep your eyes moving over the quilt and to keep the clutter down. This makes the difference between a colorful, calm quilt and a quilt that is just a puddle of color. So, I guess I do plan my quilts in a sense.

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—Mary Ann on January 27, 2017

I don’t organize my scraps, but just grab a handful from my basket and work with them until they are done then grab another handful. I’m anxious to see how the quilts turn out.

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—Vickie Keith on January 27, 2017

I’ve planned & chosen randomly when making a scrap quilt. Depends on pattern & who will receive as to how I plan.

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—Kelli Marshall on January 27, 2017

I guess I am a little too obsessive in my fabric choices even in a scrappy quilt. I cannot pull any piece of fabric and just add it to the block. The fabric has to coordinate with what I’ve already got going on or it gets thrown back into the scrap pile!

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—Jackie P on January 27, 2017

I would choose mostly a, sometimes b.

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—Daniela M on January 27, 2017

I have 2 large baskets that I put scraps that I have prepared in. I just pull scraps out of the basket & sew. The only order I have is I like to have a mix of light & dark fabrics. These scrappy quilts come out so pretty to me! I use all different colors in my scrappy quilts. The borders tend to be colors from predominant scrap colors, again, both light & dark. Scrappy makes me HAPPY!

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—Nancy Harvey on January 27, 2017

More is better. I just finished cutting 196 green 1 1/2″ squares for a postage stamp pillow. I used every green fabric from my green scrap box. As I was cutting them out I was thinking "that’s not going to go with the rest of them". Well, once they were all together, I couldn’t pick out what didn’t go – because there were none that "didn’t go".

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—Linda Ahn on January 27, 2017

I prefer my scrappy to have a set color palette, Not just everything I have. Like the seasons, I made a spring scrappy quilt, then a summer one as well. Right now I am wanting to make a quilt that the Mad Hatter from Alice in wonderland might like.

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—Kathy on January 27, 2017

I like the more scrappy approach, but I always value suggestions! Thank you!

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—Marie Harris on January 27, 2017

I don’t consciously preplan my scrappy quilts, but when constructing the blocks I try to be cognizant that the colors and patterns play well with others in the group.

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—Sandy May on January 27, 2017

I’m definitely an A but am working hard to break out of the box.

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—Ann Lindquist on January 27, 2017

I love scrap quilts – this is where it all started and they are always a surprise. I try to set some rules to stop myself going absolutely crazy.Don’t purchase anything new, it has to come from my stash and limit to a set of colours; eg pink, orange, purple, yellow. Then a small amount of a contrasting colour throughout (eg. blue) helps tie it together. Thanks for all the ideas!

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—Kym Rawson on January 27, 2017

I am much happier when I plan by scrap quilts usually by color. I like lots of contrast so the blocks don’t get lost. The more fabric the better I like the quilt.

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—Elizabeth Teerlink on January 27, 2017

My go to is B as I like the fabrics to play well together.

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—Laura Manning on January 27, 2017

I was disappointed in one of my scrap quilts because it was too scrappy for me. I need to have a controlled scrappy design.

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—Margaret Dalmer on January 27, 2017

Definitely "c"! I love lots of variety in my scrap quilts.

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—Karen Kopp on January 27, 2017

I love an anything goes kind of quilt. But I do think value is important to taming the wild 😜

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—Paula on January 27, 2017

I love ugly fabrics! I think throwing them into the mix is so refreshing. Sometimes planned quilts seem too controlled. Just go wild and see what happens. Likely it will be beautiful! Not contest-winning material but easy to love.

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—Chris on January 27, 2017

My scrap quilts are a made of a mix of all my stash (it is quite a varied variety). Having organized my scraps by size (squares and strips) it is easy to just dip in the bins and pull out at random! If I need to pay closer attention to colors I change the blocks around on my design wall as I make the quilt. The more colors the better the quilt!

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—Sue F on January 27, 2017

I think I like to be a "B" person. I like to plan my scrappy quilts but like that surprise element too. Lots of my quilts are this way…with the surprise thrown in.

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—Kathie on January 27, 2017

I haven’t done a scrappy quilt yet…..I have used a lot of my scraps making paper foundation cushions for my children’s beds featuring harry potter images, big bang theory images & guitar themed images. I have also started doing wall art quilts for the house which used up scraps too. at some point i will do a scrappy quilt though!

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—suzanne on January 27, 2017

I tend to be too rigid and matchy-matchy when making scrap quilts. I love the quilts I have seen which are true scrap quilts with many colors and patterns. Maybe my next quilt have that look I’m striving for !

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—Joan H. on January 27, 2017

There is a saying that goes "Color gets all the credit, but value does all the work." This is very true in a scrap quilt. If 20 fabrics look great together, 200 will be fabulous. Just make sure there is enough contrast so they don’t end up looking like a big mishmash. When 1st starting out, use the same background fabric if you are a bit nervous about how it will turn out. Then after you get some experience, try different fabrics of the same basic color such as white on white or cream on cream. I’ll bet you end up falling in love with scraps quilt like I did after I got over my fear of making a mistake!

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—Janet Espeleta on January 27, 2017

I’m an a girl like to plan

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—apple blossom on January 27, 2017

I LOVE the scrappy look but I’m desperately trying to break myself from trying to be too matchy-matchy. HELP. I think I need to read more books.

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—Sandy Navas on January 27, 2017

Scrappy quilts that I have done so far lend them to "C" anything goes. Log cabin light and dark and string quilts.

String quilts are fun, relaxing, lend them so well to using up scraps.

I think I am ready for more controlled scrappy quilts such as the beautiful ones in this post.

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—carol on January 27, 2017

I close my eyes and dig in. My quilting friends are always amazed at my scrappy quilts as most of them are matchy-matchy people. 🙂

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—Renea Yarolim on January 27, 2017

I am definitely an "A" type of girl. Everything is planned. My scraps are sorted by color, soit is fairly easy for me to plan my colors.

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—Liz Dyer on January 27, 2017

I do a lot of sewing for a nonprofit that gives quilts away. Many of the quilts we make are scrappy (anything goes except really ugly fabric or fabric that is poor quality). I also like controlled scrappy like Bonnie Hunter’s mystery quilts. Quilters are encouraged to use many prints in the colorways suggested by Bonnie. The quilts have movement and sparkle. The only drawback is that with the small pieces, you never whittle down the fabric collection.

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—Jolene Otter on January 27, 2017

I’m a planner and I seldom throw away scraps. I generally look the scrap bins (organized by color) before I pull from the stash when I’m looking for smaller pieces.

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—Rochelle Summers on January 27, 2017

Mostly I just dig in. When the string pile gets too big that you think it will take over the room–lol– or when you just need to sew but have no direction then string blocks fill the bill. String blocks can be made into just about any block structure that there is out there you just need to think of how to make them work.

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—shirley marvin on January 27, 2017

I keep my scraps in used Q-Tip boxes- (you know they have a sliding drawer) by colour, so use them by the drawer-full,This also Makes it easy when making any quilt whenyou need a small piece (ie; A tree inn a village)

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—elizajane on January 27, 2017

i have a zillion scraps because i value every bit of material. But when i begin a scrap quilt I plan each block and and try to make the scraps in a block compliment the other fabrics. Several of my scrappy quilts which are still UFO have a specific color family i.e. blues, browns but even those I find I may stretch the color band a little to provide sparkle to a block. Magicly I have found if the material in a block "plays" nice with the others, I can find a "home" for the block in a quilt… much of the time.

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—Sue on January 28, 2017

I like C where anything goes. The more fabrics the better! Most often I will have a calm background if lights for good contrast to the mediums and darks.

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—Dunlapquilter on January 28, 2017

I would have to choose "A". I like to plan things out.

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—Donna W on January 28, 2017

B and C. But I am trying A right now. See if it works out.

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—Colette on January 28, 2017

I’m a A type quilter, I love scrap quilts but I control the color placement.

Translation: I like to plan but with the fabrics that I have, of all colors and patterns, so that in the way possible they combine well. But they are sometimes shrill and I like that.

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—Margarita on January 28, 2017

I like to "plan" according to the block or strip sizes I have cut from my scraps. I keep them in piles on my floor until I don’t feel like putting any quilts together. Then I take my scraps and spend days cutting! I keep all the same widths and squares in like piles and, depending on what I end up with, determines my next quilt. Very rarely do I have a pattern in mind. I get started and it usually flows from there! I don’t tend to look at color, either. Value/contrast is usually all I look for – and that is only when I’m ready to put the blocks into rows, etc.

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—Tammy Ahrens on January 28, 2017

I love sewing scrap quilts. I’m a b.

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—Linda Webster on January 28, 2017

I kinda go willynilly with scraps.

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—Paula Dague on January 28, 2017

I use the anything goes method.

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—gail on January 28, 2017

I prefer to do some planning of a scrap quilt. I’m not real good at just grabbing a fabric and throwing it in there.

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—Janet Sabol on January 28, 2017

I think "the more the merrier" and I love making scrap quilts. I don"t throw away anything larger that 1.5 square inches, so I have a lot of very little pieces to join together to make new fabric. Anything larger than 4 x 12″ isn’t a scrap, in my book, and gets folded and put away with the FQs which are sorted by colour.

I go with anything. Sommetimes good results, sometimes I’m not thrilled with the results. I’v made 4 scrappy quilts in the last year, and still drowning in scraps. But I love every minute of the creative process.

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—stephanie woodward on January 29, 2017

I have to say I am a planner. Sew A it is!!!!

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—Renae on January 31, 2017

Anything goes for me. I have so much fabric now that I really try to use what I have. I initially arrange by colors, then when I can also work with getting different tones of that color too. Sometimes fabric is the right size so that gets put into the mix too!